Marsh and I have been looking forward to this port for the entire trip. We visited this area back in 2012, with the girls and Peter, and we have always hoped to return. Today we took a Princess tour, by bus, to see Omaha Beach and the American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.

Our first stop was the Overlord Museum, dedicated to telling the story of the Allied Landings through to the liberation of Paris. Overlord was the code word for the D-Day Landings. The museum opened in 2013 so it was new to us and showed a 10,000-piece collection of artifacts, vehicles, tanks and cannons, all collected by two men, Michel and Nicolas Leloup, over 50 year’s time.

Next, we made a stop in the small town of Port-en-Bessin-Huppain, for lunch at La Marine. We started with a collection of salad, salmon mouse, and pate’ with crusty bread, followed by roasted chicken and vegetables, and then dessert of apple tart. There was wine and cider to drink. They did a beautiful job considering there were so many of us.

After a short drive, we arrived to the cemetery and it was as solemn as we remembered. Our previous visit was in winter so the landscape looked slightly different. However, the grass was as green as before and everything was trimmed and perfect. It is awe striking to see 10,000+ graves, in perfect rows, knowing these young men died so far from home. We walked amongst the graves and visited the memorials that stand along the center walkway. Our guide showed us some special markers, two brothers, and also Theodore Roosevelt Jr, the son of President Teddy Roosevelt, whom was bestowed the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the Utah Beach landings. We were told during our first visit to the cemetery that there is a waitlist of French citizens, wanting to serve as gardeners in the cemetery. It’s heartwarming to know they want to take care of our fallen soldier’s final resting place.

Our last stop of the day was Omaha Beach. Now we had been hearing from our guide throughout the day his opinion about how the sacrifice of the allied forces in liberating France must not be forgotten. He was poignant and showed great respect for the memorials that we were seeing. But as we drove along much of Omaha Beach, now built up with high-end ocean-facing homes, he got very upset, saying that they should not be allowed to be built on such hallowed ground. His passion surprised us. There is in fact a stretch of beach, which has been dedicated to properly honor the landings and it has several memorials there. But he believed there should be nothing built along the 6 miles of beachfront, just as it was on June 6, 1944. Maybe he has a point.

We made our way back to the ship after a very long day. We enjoyed a quick meal at the buffet with Dave and Steph and said our goodbyes. This has been an awesome trip and we’ve enjoyed it very much. Tomorrow, we will go through debarkation from the ship, travel to Heathrow airport, and fly to Madrid where we will meet up with our friend Peter Langhan. The blog will continue as Spain and Transatlantic.